Under the table
by MisSs005
Summary: AU:Being an undercover agent wasn't exactly the safest thing to do for a living-then again- Hanabi didn't exactly have anything to lose, did she? Wrong. How could she have ever known she would lose her identity and heart while getting closer to the enemy?
1. Halfway

UNDER THE TABLE

Halfway

* * *

"Speech."

_Thoughts_

_**Flashback**_

_**Sounds**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

**August 1. 2009, 18:00 hrs. **

**

* * *

  
**

Being an undercover agent wasn't exactly the safest thing to do for a living.

Despite the mysterious and awe striking ring to it through the effect of films like James Bond or Miss Congeniality-- the real thing couldn't be anymore deceiving.

Sure there were guns, fast cars and beautiful women...

–.. but there was also more blood, more death and rather more women and men with scars; both visible and invisible.

Unlike agent 007, _real_ agents did not get to live a full twenty years chasing after bad guys- they mostly died in the first five years of their career.

Unlike Sandra Bullock they did not obtain a hero-status along with a nice, little, perfect relationship with one of their colleagues-- _no_, most agents did not make it to an happy ending. And _good_ agents certainly would never allow themselves to become celebrities.

In this job give and take was no option.

It was to give, _give and give and give_ until your last miserable breath.

No mistakes were allowed and identities had to be given up in order to succeed.

Then _why_, why did she so eagerly give her own life away?

Being an undercover agent wasn't exactly the safest thing to do for a living.

–.. but then again, what did she exactly have to lose?

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

The thing she'd called family once upon a time had been taken away from her in the early beginnings of her childhood. Her second and last attempt of forming another family had been once more brutally annihilated – as she'd lost her lover and partner in one of their missions together.

After that-- she'd never failed another mission and never gave into sentiments of love and protection.

Never....-

Until now.

"Hanabi-chan! Hold on! Please...- Hanabi-chan!"

_Hinata... you'll never stop hoping, will you? _

She managed to chuckle softly, before another mouthful of blood choked her up.

"HANABI! I swear I'll KILL you! KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!"

_Naruto.. so loud.. as always .. _

Her eyelids fluttered a couple of more times, already knowing they were losing a lost battle.

"Hanabi..-"

A small smile tugged at her blood covered lips at hearing that small voice amongst all those others.

Her mission, her antagonist.

The man she would die for.

_Feels nice.. to finally hear my name from your lips... _

"I-I-Itach-h-i...-" She inhaled sharply, feeling the pain catching up on her body.

Her eyes opened one last time and right at that moment they met dark, intense ones-- full of anger, disbelief and another fervent emotion that had not been greeting her for such a long, _long_ time. Love?

"S-S-Sor-r-ry." After she had forced that final word out of her searing throat, her vision was covered in black immediately.

She felt herself fading away slowly.

_There goes my third family...- but this time it's me who's leaving._

She had made it once and for all.

She was home.

* * *

A/N:

Ok, before we get started, for the sake of trying to maintain a believable plot, I have messed around with some of the ages of the characters. In the real manga the age difference between Hanabi and the rookie nine is 5 years. In this fic, it'll be just two years. Moreover the real age difference between the rookie nine and people like Kakashi and Kurenai is about 13 years, while in this fic it'll be merely 10 years.

Hence overall it'll be like this; Hanabi is 22 years old, which means that the rookie nine are 24. Itachi is 28 and Kakashi is 35. Just thought I'd let you know before complicating things.

Secondly, although I've finished an international high school program-- English is not my native language and additionally I don't have a BETA-reader. So... unless you want to volunteer to become my BETA, or my spelling and grammar are way, way off-- please bear with it.

Anyway, thanks a lot for bothering to read and feel free to "constructively criticize" me ;))

_MisSs005_


	2. How it began

UNDER THE TABLE

How it began

* * *

"Speech."

_Thoughts_

_**Flashback**_

_**Sounds**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

9 months ago, January 28. 2009, 04:00

* * *

"… _Can't read my, Can't read my_

_No he can't read my pokerface_…"

The beat of the song pumped through the small, smoky club making youngsters go crazy on the dance floor. The sight of entangled limbs, the smell of mingled sweat and alcohol and the bittersweet effect of drugs already gave a taste of the very apparent future of the 21st century.

Gone was innocence.

In its place a new sensation had arrived…. - _lust_.

Hedonism was right on the track of hitting another peak.

" … _Russian roulette is not the same without a gun_

_And baby when it's love if it's not rough- it isn't fun, fun_…"

Unfortunately it wasn't just hedonism that reached a top.

According to some sources and after a mission that had taken two months, Hanabi had figured out much, _much_ more was going on in this seemingly _straightforward_ dancing club.

"… _Just like a chick in the casino_

_Take your bank before I pay you out_…"

She chuckled lightly as she sipped her last bit of beer, savoring the bitter taste.

_Out of all the songs they could play, they pick this one? _

"_Hey Firecracker , I've spotted our promiscuous girl at the edge of the bar. We don't wanna make her wait too much, do we?"_

_Firecracker… _Funny, they'd actually taken quite a long time to come up with such a lousy nick in the end. During her first few missions she had been nothing more than a couple of numbers—of course she hadn't particularly felt degraded, but both the bosses and her partners somehow just couldn't let go of the said fact. Well- she honestly didn't expect anything less once she had got to known all of the so-called _professional_ assholes. They weren't in general the type who'd let go of any given opportunity to fuck around with her. Eventually after having experienced her occasional explosive nature and as a _tribute_ to her own name, "firecracker" was sadly the best thing they were able to produce all together.

She touched her right ear to secure her equipment and pushed some strands of her dark brown hair-extensions behind that particular ear to cover up the act.

This newest piece of technology was so small it made her feel like it would drop out of her ear anytime. Although she knew that was not very likely, as it had probably cost too much for it to allow such things….- it still was uncomfortable.. plus it _itched_ like hell.

"No," she drawled, already practicing the sweet, low tone she'd have to use very soon, "Of course we don't."

With one swift movement she threw the plastic glass away and started walking towards their target, a young woman with one of the most revealing outfits she'd ever had the displeasure of witnessing.

The woman who would lead them to the success of their mission.

"Hello, Kin-dearest," she stopped in front of her, starting her act," you look absolutely fa-bu-lous!"

Kin raised one thin, black eyebrow in amusement. "No need for pleasantries, sugar. Save them for the bosses, 'cause believe me, you'll _need_ them a _lot_."

Hanabi tried to look a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm a bit nervous, you know...-"

Kin flipped her inky black hair over her shoulder, before her equally dark eyes shamelessly scrutinized the agent from head to toe.

She nodded approvingly. "Believe me hon, with _that_ outfit no one will even pay attention to anything 'cept for that booty of yours."

_Well she has a point…_

It had been one of the most difficult tasks in her life to get away from the base without giving the rest of the team a chance to capture her outfit in the form of pictures. It had cost her the destruction of three governmentally owned cameras and thus 10 % of her next pay check—but she still thought it was worth _every_ damn digit on her bank account.

"Thank you, Kin. For everything…- without you I'd never have a chance to get in."

_That's actually the first honest thing that has come from my mouth in the past two months. _

Kin's expression faltered for a second, and her eyes shone with something she couldn't decipher until a few moments later—it was regret, and perhaps even a bit of pity.

But then her same confident face was back in a heartbeat.

"Let's go."

The two women made their way through the insanely partying crowd. They finally reached one corner of the club where two men were sitting at a table while taking it easy with what seemed like a bunch of hookers.

"Dosu, Zaku—you just can't keep 'em in your pants for even one second, can you?" Kin scolded, as she stood in front of the table.

"Kin...- nice to see you as well, babe." The one with black hair replied, while grinning lecherously.

The addressed woman merely sighed in annoyance.

"Anyway, let me through. Got some business."

The same guy, whose name was apparently Zaku, was the one to talk again.

"I bet you do." He said, eyeing her outfit appreciatively.

The other guy, Dosu, seemed to have caught on a bit faster, though.

"Who's she?" He inquired, staring straight at Hanabi.

Kin pulled the other woman next to her as she responded.

"She's with me. The newest addition to the team, - if you know what I mean."

That got two deep chuckles from both men, who knew _exactly_ what she meant.

"Not too big, are ya?" Zaku commented while shamelessly ogling Hanabi's chest.

Hanabi leaned in as a response, while one of her hands skillfully traveled down all the way to his pants— she let them hover teasingly above the outlines of his manly existence.

"Guess that makes the two of us, don't it?" She whispered mockingly and then let go. His reaction was delivered in the form of a groan and sharp intake of breath.

Dosu just grinned, as he was close enough to hear the encounter while Kin downright laughed.

"You..- You _bitch_!" Zaku hissed disoriented, his pleasure mixing with anger.

"Now, now, Zaku dear, - play nicely! That's not the way you treat a lady who's gonna be mauled by the bosses tonight."

"_Never knew you were this protective over your boobs_" a voice chuckled into Hanabi's ear, while she smiled angelically.

Zaku only growled, and sat back on his sofa to aggressively kiss one of his girls, while Dosu motioned for them to come behind the table.

Hanabi saw him knock three times on a dark dot on the wall and a mere second later the wall opened slightly in order to let Kin and herself in.

_So this is where they hide, huh. _

She had already known it was somewhere this direction (a courtesy of the woman beside her) as she had watched Kin move towards this direction and then somehow magically disappear.

_I get it- from a faraway angle it is downright impossible to notice the opening of the wall. Especially because of those tables up front. _

They ended up in a long hallway illuminated by rows and rows of torches. The agent mentally sighed, wondering why all the bad guys had to be so cliché in their taste regarding decoration.

"We're here." Kin said softly, stopping at the doorway of another room.

"Your guy is the second one on the left side of the table."

Hanabi peeked over the shoulder of Kin and saw a small, luxurious but grotesquely decorated room. The walls consisted of a rich green color and were adorned with several heads of exotic animals, - a lion, elephant, panther, giraffe...

The opposite wall, devoid of such things, was not in the least a less exciting sight. It was made of thick, clear glass and reminded her somewhat of an aquarium. There was one major distinction, though- an aquarium was supposed to be full of fish, whereas this one harbored snakes, _many_ large, dangerously looking snakes.

A big, wooden round table was put in the middle of the room and had three wooden chairs on each side occupied by five men and one woman. Her eyes skimmed over all of their forms, recognizing some of the bigger fish, and eventually stopped on one form.

_The second one on the left side… _

Her form tensed slightly as she recognized the man she had to _entertain_ this evening.

_Kiba from the Inuzuka clan. _

"Wow. Seven of them." She whispered seemingly awestruck, so her partner could get to the information as well.

"Yeah, they're the usual."

Hanabi made sure to make a note of that.

"So...- which one is yours?" she wanted to know.

"Kidomaru." Kin sighed, a bit too happily, the agent noticed.

_Kidomaru…? Sounds familiar. Have to check him in the database later._

"So, I'm gonna tell you the major stuff you need to know before we go in. Your guy is Inuzuka Kiba, a very_- very_ important client. Normally I'd let you first try out on the fuckers who don't matter—but seems like this guy really is into athletic brunettes. That's where you obviously come in. If you don't fuck up, you'll come here every Wednesday. That's his day."

Hanabi nodded.

_Can't believe I'm this _damn_ lucky. _

This would make the last stage of her mission considerably harder. She'd also anticipated to amuse some guy who didn't really matter, so she could get away in between to prepare and brief her team before all of the action. However, if her guy was Kiba…-

"_Fuck it! Inuzuka Kiba? Damn it all_." She heard her team member hiss.

From all of the previously gathered data the secret service highlighted certain distinctive trademarks of all criminals. Inuzuka Kiba also known as "_The Horny Dog of the Inuzuka_" was firstly crazy about dogs, in particular his own; Akamaru,- and secondly, he was one insatiable bastard who just couldn't get enough of the female anatomy and was easily distracted by the women around him.

_Meaning, there's no way he'll let me wander off that easily… _

"The other guys don't really matter, they're the type that come and go. Except for Kidomaru, who is one of the bosses of this entire place actually—make sure not to talk to him whatsoever and let me deal with him." She continued with a stern back-off-girlfriend-tone.

"Wouldn't dare to." Hanabi tried to reassure her.

"And same goes for the woman—her name's Temari and she's also one of our greatest customers. She absolutely hates _real_ women with better looks and loves making nasty, useless comments. Whatever she says, though- just ignore it."

Hanabi realized Kin was not exactly fond of Temari.

_They probably had some difficulties in the past… interesting. _

Kin then finally motioned for her to go in. "They've stopped. It's time for their break."

"Kin, baby—great timing as always." Kidomaru called out the moment they entered.

Kin walked seductively towards him and finally flung herself on his lap, whispering and purring sweet nothings into his ear.

_Here we go. _

Hanabi was staring at a very angry Inuzuka Kiba who furiously threw his cards on the table.

_Unfortunately I'm not that lucky with _my_ timing. _

He finally looked up and met her eyes; his angry scowl immediately replaced by an appreciatively grin.

_Bingo._

She had read and heard all about this Inuzuka's fixation over women, but this was the first time she was on the receiving end of it.

He licked his lips as he continued to move his gaze over her athletic body.

And suddenly he wasn't scary anymore; just disgustingly male like any other she'd met up until now.

_At least his looks aren't as repulsive as his attitude. _She noted when his unruly brown locks fell into his dark intense eyes.

She smiled a little, allowed her tongue to slide over her dry lips and as a result his feral grin just widened more and revealed sharp white teeth.

"Hi there, sexy." He growled, pulling her closer. "Why don't you take a seat?" He continued, while patting his thigh with his other hand.

_How original._

Her smile widened just a bit as she slowly sat onto his lap without breaking eye contact.

He allowed her to settle in a more convenient position, before he put one arm around her back so she could lean in and he in return could feel more flesh.

"You okay?" He asked, once she was done settling.

She blinked before nodding. Hanabi had not expected him to actually think about her own comfort as well. These were small actions, yet those most men of his standing wouldn't resort to. She felt herself relax more into his arms. The key to seduction and any other emotion was truth. While being on the job she had learned that if she believed in her own actions, they were much easier to bear. Especially in these types of missions, requiring her to diminish whatever she had left of her self-respect, she could use all of the sympathy she was able to muster.

"You're in a big disadvantage, you know?" She commented softly, with half-lidded eyes looking up to him.

"…hmm..?" He raised one brown eyebrow.

Her hands moved up on his shirt, the thin fabric allowing her to outline his muscular torso. "Well, somehow I think _my _chair is more comfortable than _yours_."

That earned her two deep chuckles. "Depends on what ya are lookin' for in a chair, sugar. 'Cause I ain't gonna promise that this chair's gonna allow ya to sit peacefully."

The smile on her face grew as she tried to bat her eyes innocently. "Wouldn't that be a plus from where I'm sitting?" She enquired, while taking the liberty to brush the brown locks out of his eyes. Her eyes lingered on the red triangles on his face- the pride of the Inuzuka clan. They looked strangely appealing on his masculine face.

He gave her a knowing look before they were quite rudely interrupted.

"If you great, big, disgusting animals are done fucking your whores—then let's continue. I don't have all night—especially for _that_ kinda playing." A female voice growled, slamming her fist to onto the table.

_Why, thank you. Great timing. _

Although Inuzuka Kiba was far more of a gentleman than she'd expected, the tension had started to rise significantly. He wasn't called a horny dog for no reason. It was better not to indulge too deeply into his sexual desires as she wasn't exactly bend on making them come true. Moreover this was a great opportunity to get away from him without looking suspicious.

Kiba sighed, obviously not happy with the thought of letting her go.

"Damn that woman. Guess we need to finish what we started later tonight."

She leaned over his shoulder to have a better access to his ear. "I'll be waiting."

She whispered lowly, slightly blowing her moist, hot breath onto his earlobe.

He groaned, while reluctantly loosening his hold so she could move away from his lap gracefully.

_Goodbye, Inuzuka Kiba. _

He gave her one last promising look before he focused on the play in front of him.

She moved towards the doorway, next to Kin. A glance at the antique wooden clock beside the snakes let her know that it was 05:30.

_About time we start moving, _

"Kin-dearest, I think he likes me." She said as a greeting.

Kin merely nodded approvingly.

"Thing is, though. He wants me to do something for him…-"

"Obviously." The black-haired woman raised a thin eyebrow.

"No, I mean- he wants,-" here she lowered her voice, "things like strings, handcuffs, raw meat and rubber- lot's of rubber,- he wants to…-"

Kin's eyebrow shot even higher as she curtly interrupted that sentence. "I understand." She looked at the clock before she directed herself towards Hanabi.

"Look we don't have all of that in the chambers- so like I told you before- in this kinda situation you go to Dosu and order the items."

Hanabi nodded. Of course she had already taken a note of this in the past. She had long decided this would be the opportunity for her to get away.

"Remember; end of the hallway, 3 long knocks. Be quick."

The agent nodded one last time before turning around and entering the hallway.

"_Firecracker, you finally alone?"_

" Mm.."

"_Good girl. Our job's done here. Now get the hell out_."

She finally got to the wall and knocked three times. It opened, revealing Dosu.

"What's your problem?"

"Need some deliveries." She said leaning closer towards him.

"It's a long, _long_ list, though. So maybe you could order me a drink, while we go through them, …_together_…"

Dosu didn't fail to understand the underlying tone of her request and let her go through. She looked over his shoulder to see what the other guy, Zaku, was up to. She couldn't feel luckier as she noticed he was quite fervently engaged in activities that wouldn't allow him to notice anything around him.

"So what do you need?" He asked, his hand somehow finding its way towards her ass.

This time she couldn't fight the feeling of repulsion as this man's hands moved over her body as if she simply was a piece of meat. His strokes were animalistic and eager- too eager.

She tried to create a bit of distance before starting to count the same things she'd told Kin. If nothing, he looked more turned on at hearing those requests.

"Wait here." He shot her one last perverted look and took off to find the delivery boy.

"No way in hell." She muttered after he got out of her sight. She glanced at Zaku, who was still quite occupied as far as she considered.

_Time to go. _

Once again mingling in the crowd, she soon left another successful mission behind.

Moments later, she was outside, two alleys away waiting for her team in the shadows of the buildings.

A black 2010 Mercedes Sprinter van stopped in front of her and the back door opened.

She allowed her lips to slightly curl upwards before entering.

"Mission accomplished."

* * *

Exactly five streets ahead, on the fourth store of a tall construction, a cell phone rang, breaking the silence in a small office. The owner pulled it out of his coat's pocket.

It was a message.

" _Mission 60789 information gathering Club Sound_

_Status: Accomplished_

_No losses"_

The man sighed, placing the mobile on his desk.

"Somehow this ain't much of a surprise."

His eyes glided over the opened file on his desk and stopped at the picture on the right corner.

A woman.

Small and delicate looking.

Black, half long hair.

One persistent lock covering her left eye.

Light, determined, fearless orbs.

Sophisticated, almost aristocratic facial features.

Little, red lips put into a grim line.

"Agent Firecracker, _Hanabi_- eh?"

He scowled at the picture.

_Orochimaru is not gonna like this. _

This chick in front of him was becoming a bit of a nuisance. Sure, it didn't matter if she just fucked around with the usual, petty gangs—but lately she was starting to get out of her league. He wasn't exactly thrilled by the outcome of her latest mission for example. The club was owned by one of the greatest yakuza leaders in the country: Orochimaru. And the reason he actually had this job was to make sure stuff like that would simply not happen so occasionally. If he by any chance would not comply with his task, that would mean trouble.

He didn't like trouble. He didn't like it _at all_.

Hence the best thing would be to eliminate her before she became a real threat.

_Pity, though. She's a cute, little, young thing. _

But how… - how could he finish her off without getting his superiors suspicious and blowing up his own cover?

"_Hmmm_…-"

He tapped his fingers against her file and then his eyes lingered on another pile of files on the edge of his desk. His eyes widened for a second and a large, malicious grin settled comfortably on his painted face.

"How 'bout a new mission, little miss sunshine?" He chuckled at the picture in front of him.

_It's settled then. _

He just had to make a couple of phone calls and come up with some bullshit outline.

The thing was, - he _loved _bullshit, because that was what he got paid for all this time by those foolish, peace loving and righteous assholes.

Suddenly he turned serious after remembering an important detail.

He picked up his mobile and dialed a very familiar number. He waited a couple of seconds before the person finally picked up.

"_What_?! Fucking retard! You know I'm busy right now! You better have a good rea…-"

The man sighed, although he'd expected this reaction didn't mean it wasn't tiresome.

"Look, Temari—Club Sound has been dismantled. Don't think the cops will show up t'night, but you've gotta get the hell away from there soon."

The woman on the line calmed down, if only a bit.

"Got it. Now _fuck off_."

He realized only a few seconds later that she'd already hung up on him.

The man allowed himself to sink lower into his nice, comfortable leather chair.

"Fucking siblings."

* * *


End file.
